Big-time brands start swinging on Vine

Are you a fan of Vine, the mobile service that lets you capture and share short looping videos on Twitter? - flickr.com/clasesdeperiodismo

From Urban Outfitters to Oreo Cookies, a growing number of brands are experimenting with Vine to interact with their customers. The app lets users shoot-and-share six-second videos, and now it’s at the center of a new marketing campaign from Airbnb. The travel accommodations website is asking people to help make the first-ever short film using Vines.

Airbnb is calling its short film campaign “Hollywood & Vines” in a kind of homage to the famous intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles -- an epicenter of the film business almost a century ago. “We thought of Hollywood as, you know, the legacy of storytelling, and Vines as the future of storytelling in video form,” says Vivek Wagle, the company’s head of brand strategy.

He won’t reveal the plot but Wagle says the theme is “finding your place in the world.” Airbnb is posting a list of shots on its website and people can submit their Vines on Twitter. The final product will air on the Sundance Channel.

“This is sort of the next evolution of brands trying to engage with consumers,” explains Matt Britton, CEO of the social media marketing firm MRY. He says Airbnb is getting people to interact with its brand. “You know, if they can do that then at the end of the day also have great content which they can then bottle up, repackage and share, well then that’s even more of a win," he says.